Follow the Fader

Big Moods is a new playlist series to soundtrack the best, worst, and weirdest parts of life. For the third nstallment, we collected the saddest songs to cry alone to — from Beyoncé and Elliott Smith to Master P and Sheryl Crow — in no particular order.

Boosie Badazz & Webbie, “Goin' Thru Some Thangs”

(Sandy) Alex G, “Change”

I don't like how things changeI don't like how things changeI don't like how things changeI don't like how things changeI don't like how things changeI don't like how things change

Coma Cinema, “Survivor’s Guilt”

Expectations weigh on me To satisfy these endless needs And I don't care and I don't know why Maybe I'm no good inside All this wasted time To see your fucked up life become mine

JAY Z & Beanie Siegel f. Scarface, “This Can't Be Life”

And I'm hurtin’ for you dog, but ain't nobody pain is like yoursI just know that heaven'll open these doorsAnd ain't no bright side to losin’ life but you can view it like this God's got open hands homey, he in the midst of good companyWho loves all and hates not oneAnd one day you gon' be wit your son

Amy Winehouse, “Love Is A Losing Game”

Oh, what a mess we madeAnd now the final frameLove is a losing game

Elliott Smith, “No Name #3”

So come on nightEveryone is goneHome to oblivion

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Beyoncé, “Heaven”

I fought for you
The hardest, it made me the strongest
So tell me your secrets
I just can't stand to see you leaving
But heaven couldn't wait for you

John Prine, “Sam Stone”

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goesJesus Christ died for nothin I suppose

Fiona Apple, “Never Is a Promise”

You'll say “Don't fear your dreams, it's easier than it seems”You'll say you'd never let me fall from hopes so highBut never is a promise and you can't afford to lie

Eve, “Love Is Blind”

How could you beat the mother of your childrenHow could you tell her that you lover herDon't give a fuck if she lives

Gil Scott-Heron, “Did You Hear What They Said?”

Did you hear what they said, About his mother and how she cried, They said she cried, ’cause her only son was dead

Phoebe Bridgers, “Funeral”

And last night I blacked out in my carAnd I woke up in my childhood bedWishing I was someone else, feeling sorry for myselfWhen I remembered someone's kid is dead

DMX, “Slippin’”

Ay yo I'm slippin', I'm fallin', I can't get up
Ay yo I'm slippin', I'm fallin', I can't get up

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Cat Power, “Names”

His name was CharlesHe said he was in love with meWe were both fourteenThen I had to move awayThen he begin to smoke crackThen he had to sell assI don't know where he is

Jewel, “You Were Meant For Me”

I go about my business, I'm doing fineBesides, what would I say if I had you on the lineSame old story, not much to sayHearts are broken every day

Joni Mitchell, “River”

Oh I wish I had a riverI could skate away onI made my baby cry

Master P, “Goodbye To My Homies”

How do I say goodbye to what we hadThe good times that made us laugh outweighted the badI thought we'd get to see foreverBut forever's gone away

Kanye West f. Paul McCartney, “Only One”

You know I never left you
'Cause every road that leads to heaven's right inside you

Meek Mill f. Young Thug, “We Ball”

When they killed my nigga, I seen the footage on the tapeMan I must've threw up everything I ever ate

Lewis Baloue, “Even Rainbows Turn Blue”

[Instrumental]

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Lil Wayne, “I Feel Like Dying”

On the day I die, would you even cry?If I end my life, would you hold me tight then?

Johnny Cash, “Hurt”

What have I becomeMy sweetest friendEveryone I knowGoes away in the end

Future, “Deeper Than The Ocean”

Sometimes I wanna get inside the Escalade and crash itMy pain runnin’ deeper than the oceanMy pain runnin’ deeper than the oceanMy pain runnin’ deeper than the ocean

Kacey Musgraves, “Fine”

I go about my business, I'm doing fine
Besides, what would I say if I had you on the line
Same old story, not much to say
Hearts are broken every day

Scarface, “I Seen A Man Die”

I never understood whyI could never see a man cry 'til I seen a man die

Mary J. Blige, “Not Gon‘ Cry”

No, I'm not gon’ cry,It's not the time'Cause you're not worth my tears

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Nina Simone, “Blackbird”

Why you want to fly, blackbird, you ain't ever gonna flyYou ain't got no one to hold you, you ain't got no one to careIf you'd only understand, dear, nobody wants you anywhere

Nico, “These Days“

I've been out walkingI don't do that much talking these daysThese daysThese days I seem to think a lotAbout the things that I forgot to doAnd all the times I had the chance to

Sampha, “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano”

An angel by her side, oh, all the times I knew we couldn't cope
They said that it's her time, no tears in sight, I kept the feelings close

Prince, “Sometimes It Snows In April”

Springtime was always my favorite time of yearA time for lovers holding hands in the rainNow springtime only reminds me of Tracy's tears

Rihanna f. Mikky Ekko, “Stay”

Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving'Cause when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving

Lil Peep, “About You”

On the day I die, would you even cry?If I end my life, would you hold me tight then?

Perfume Genius, “Mr. Peterson”

Mr. PetersonI know you were ready to goI hope there’s room for you up aboveOr down below

Meshell Ndegeocello, “Fool Of Me”

Mista, “Blackberry Molasses”

Sade, “Pearls”

She lives a life she didn't chooseAnd it hurts like brand-new shoesHurts like brand-new shoes

Sam Amidon, “My Old Friend”

My old friendThis song's for youCause a few simple verses was the least that I could doTo tell the world that you were hereThe love and the laughterWill love on long afterAll of the sadness and the tearsWe'll meet again, my old friend

Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You”

If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I'll go but I know
I'll think of you every step of the way

Mariah Carey, “I Don't Wanna Cry”

Once again we sit in silenceAfter all is said and doneOnly emptiness inside us

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Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”

You got a fast carI've got a job that pays all our billsYou stay out drinking late at the barsSee more your friends than you do your kidsI always hoped for betterThat maybe together you and me would find itI got no plans I ain't going nowhereSo take your fast car and keep on driving

Mount Eerie, “Real Death”

Death is realSomeone's there and then they're notAnd it's not for singing aboutIt's not for making into artWhen real death enters the house, all poetry is dumbWhen I walk into the room where you wereAnd look into the emptiness insteadAll fails

Sufjan Stevens, “Casimir Pulaski Day”

When I found out you had cancer of the boneYour father cried on the telephoneAnd he drove his car into the navy yardJust to prove that he was sorry

Lucinda Williams, “Dust”

It's a sadness so deep the sun seems black
And you don't have to try to keep the tears back
’Cause you couldn't cry if you wanted to
Even your thoughts are dust

Tegan and Sara, “Nineteen”

I was all alone you were all I hadYou were all II was yours right?

Lil B, “No Black Person Is Ugly”

Sunshine, sunshine, lookin' for the sunshineNo black is person is ugly, don't say it one time